1. Flail chest: Monitor pulse oximetry and blood gases, intubate and ventilate if there is hypoxia or respiratory distress. Consider early intubation in elderly or severe multitrauma patients. 2. Open, sucking/blowing wound in the chest wall: Do not suture or pack before thoracostomy tube insertion. Danger of tension pneumothorax! A Square gauze taped on only 3 sides can be applied while preparing for chest tube insertion. 3. Tension pneumothorax: Initial decompression with needle insertion through the
Platelets should be transfused at a rate of 10 milliliters per minute for approximately 30 minutes, explains the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Health System.
1 The normal platelet count is 150,000-350,000 per microliter of blood, but since platelets are so small, they make up just a tiny fraction of the blood volume. The principal function of platelets is to prevent bleeding.  Red blood cells are the most numerous blood cell, about 5,000,000 per microliter.